Aug. 31, 2002
East Lansing, Mich. – Freshman Sarah Morgan had another great performance as she recorded her first double-double as South Carolina defeated Georgetown 3-0 (30-27, 30-14, 30-27) in their second game of the Coca-Cola/MSU Volleyball Tournament at Michigan State. Morgan led the team in kills with 13 and had 11 digs. Senior Berna Dwyer led the team in hitting percentage with .438 (8 K, 1 E, 16 TA), while Niece Curry posted 11 kills and hit .318. Setter Megan Hosp recorded 36 assists and led the team in digs with 12.
“I was worried about Georgetown. They are a very good team. I was concerned about how we would come out playing this early in the morning. I am just glad to get that behind us now,” said head coach Kim Christopher.
USC hit .263 as a team, but they held Georgetown to a slim .073. The Hoyas had 32 kills and 24 errors in 109 attempts while Carolina recorded 48 kills and 18 errors in 114 attempts.
“Megan Hosp has had two good matches and Berna, who led the team in hitting percentage this morning, has been playing very well right now,” said Christopher. I am also pleased that we got another good performance from Sarah Morgan.”
Morgan led the Gamecocks in kills in game one with six and hit .333. Carolina controlled most of game one as they never relinquished the lead. USC out hit the Hoyas .342 to .139 as the Gamecocks claimed the 30-27 win.
South Carolina dominated in game two and the Hoyas were held to just eight kills as USC finished the game with a 16-point lead. Also in game two, the Gamecocks accounted for four service aces, two by junior Mariana Branquinho and one each by Curry and Hosp.
The Hoyas attempted a rally in game three as they stayed within reach of the Gamecocks. However, GU recorded 12 kills and their 12 errors cancelled out the Hoyas hitting percentage to .000. That was fortunate for the Gamecocks, who only hit .114 in game three. GU came to within one point of the Gamecocks in game three when Dwyer hit a service error, making the score 27-26. However, three attack errors by the Hoyas gave USC a three-point lead and eventually the win at 30-27.
The Gamecocks will close out the tournament against the host school, No. 15 Michigan State tonight at 8:00 pm.
